Residents boast, and visitors acknowledge that the Gold Coast is, and has been for over 20 years, Australia's fastest growing metropolitan area, and is likely to remain so for the next 15 years at least.
As such, the City, which began as a seaside village just over 100 years ago, is now totally engrossed in a headlong stampede to the future; consumed by an obsession with the newest, the largest, the tallest, the latest - the greatest!
As a consequence, virtually nothing of the built residential environment that was erected in the formative years of the Gold Coast, remains. It is true to say that absolutely nothing residential has been restored. Older residential buildings, motels and even early high rises have been demolished en masse to make way for and facilitate this progress.
Because of the prevailing culture that all prior development on the Gold Coast is obsolete, tacky and disposable, virtually nothing remains that displays the charm of days gone-by. There are no older residential areas, such as the Paddington's of Brisbane and Sydney, or the beautiful old residential and public buildings so common in Melbourne, Adelaide, Hobart and Fremantle to remind us of our past.
"The Beach Houses" at Tugun were built in 1948, in the peak of what is commonly referred to as the Baby Boom.
They were built in the era of the Surf O Plane, as opposed to the Malibu Balsa Surfboard that did not emerge in Australia until some 8 years later.
Their construction preceded the introduction of motels, serviced apartments, meter maids, home air conditioning, television, stereos, the Pill and the 21st Century scourges of drugs and graffiti.
This was the era of surf reel rescues, and beach umbrellas, the hoky poky and bathing beauty contests.
'Clubbing' was confined to expensive nightclubs where ties and cocktail dresses were mandatory, and a night out was a night at the movies, or the odd infamous pyjama party.
Parking meters, traffic lights, poker machines, the TAB and even sunscreen did not yet exist.
Still, people had fun in abundance when the Beach Houses were in their earlier heyday, and the Gold Coast was attracting tourists and immigrants from the southern States who flocked here for the sun, the surf, the beaches, the magnificent climate and the laid back atmosphere.
The mind boggles at the enjoyment that the Beach Houses would have provided over those years to tourists and holiday makers; the friendships and relationships that developed and blossomed here, and the wonderful memories that thousands of people took away with them.
Our objective in refurbishing these iconic beachfront buildings is to offer a taste of that total enjoyment to people in the current computer-age, in the hope that they can recapture some of the flavour and romance of what was truly the Golden Era for both the Gold Coast and Australia
Today, the Beach Houses offer a unique combination of the relaxed charm of the classic Aussie Beach Shack of yesteryear - featuring front verandah's, polished timber floors and breezy glass louvers - with the comfort and convenience of today - including air conditioning, DVD and flat screen T.V. and automatic dishwashers - the best of both Worlds!
